Devices, systems, and methods related to forming through-substrate vias with sacrificial plugs

ABSTRACT

Methods for making semiconductor devices are disclosed herein. A method configured in accordance with a particular embodiment includes forming one or more openings in a front side of the semiconductor device and forming sacrificial plugs in the openings that partially fill the openings. The method further includes further filling the partially filled openings with a conductive material, where individual sacrificial plugs are generally between the conductive material and a substrate of the semiconductor device. The sacrificial plugs are exposed at a backside of the semiconductor device. Contact regions can be formed at the backside by removing the sacrificial plugs.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present technology is related to forming through-substrate vias thatextend through the substrates of semiconductor devices. In particular,some embodiments of the present technology are related to formingthrough-silicon vias (TSVs).

BACKGROUND

Forming semiconductor devices typically includes subjecting asemiconductor substrate or assembly to a series of processing steps,each directed to adding, removing, and/or altering material.Cumulatively, these processing steps can form electrical components,e.g., transistors, capacitors, and diodes, precisely and at very highdensities. Networks of electrical connections between the electricalcomponents can be complex and, in modern semiconductor devices,typically extend over multiple layers. Connections from one layer toanother layer can be formed by vias, which are formed selectively byetching holes through the substrate in desired patterns.Through-substrate vias extend through the entirety of a semiconductordevice or substrate and electrically couple contacts or other featuresat opposite sides of the semiconductor device. Conventionally, amulti-step process is used to form through-substrate vias, whichincludes forming the vias through a front side of the semiconductordevice and then backgrinding or thinning the backside until the vias areexposed through the backside.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present technology can be better understood withreference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings arenot necessarily to scale. Instead, emphasis is placed on illustratingclearly the principles of the present technology.

FIGS. 1-14 are partially schematic cross-sectional views illustrating asemiconductor device at selected steps in a method for making conductivestructures in accordance with an embodiment of the present technology.

FIGS. 15-19 are partially schematic cross-sectional views illustrating asemiconductor device at selected steps in another method for makingconductive structures in accordance with an embodiment of the presenttechnology.

FIGS. 20A and 20B are a partially schematic cross-sectional viewillustrating semiconductor devices made by the methods shown in FIGS.1-19.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram illustrating a system that incorporates asemiconductor device in accordance with an embodiment of the presenttechnology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Specific details of several embodiments of methods for makingsemiconductor devices are described herein along with related methods,devices, and systems. The term “semiconductor device” generally refersto a solid-state device that includes semiconductor material. Examplesof semiconductor devices include logic devices, memory devices, anddiodes, among others. Furthermore, the term “semiconductor device” canrefer to a finished device or to an assembly or other structure atvarious stages of processing before becoming a finished device.Depending upon the context in which it is used, the term “substrate” canrefer to a wafer-level substrate or to a singulated, die-levelsubstrate. A person having ordinary skill in the relevant art willrecognize that suitable steps of the methods described herein can beperformed at the wafer level or at the die level. Furthermore, unlessthe context indicates otherwise, structures disclosed herein can beformed using conventional semiconductor-manufacturing techniques.Materials can be deposited, for example, using chemical vapordeposition, physical vapor deposition, atomic layer deposition, spincoating, and/or other suitable techniques. Similarly, materials can beremoved, for example, using plasma etching, wet etching,chemical-mechanical planarization, or other suitable techniques.

Many embodiments of the present technology are described below in thecontext of through-substrate vias (e.g., through-silicon vias), such aselectrically conductive plugs or connectors that extend completelythrough the substrate when completed. A person having ordinary skill inthe relevant art will also understand that the present technology mayhave additional embodiments, such as embodiments including otherelectrical connectors in a wafer, and that the present technology may bepracticed without several of the details of the embodiments describedherein with reference to FIGS. 1-19. For ease of reference, throughoutthis disclosure identical reference numbers are used to identify similaror analogous components or features, but the use of the same referencenumber does not imply that the parts should be construed to beidentical. Indeed, in many examples described herein, theidentically-numbered parts are distinct in structure and/or function.Furthermore, the same shading may be used to indicate materials in crosssection that can be compositionally similar, but the use of the sameshading does not imply that the materials should be construed to beidentical.

Through-substrate vias are fabricated by forming holes in a substrate,filling the holes with a conductive material, and then thinning thesubstrate at the backside to expose the conductive material through thebackside of the substrate. The process for forming the holes can includea photolithographic process followed by one or more wet and/or drychemical etch processes. Typically this process creates a certain amountof variation in hole depth across a wafer or die. For example, thevariation can be on the order of two thousand angstroms or more. Thethinning process is generally designed to accommodate theses variations.For example, a backgrinding process may be carried out for additionaltime to ensure that all of the through-substrate vias extend completelythrough the substrate. However, because the through-substrate vias aretypically composed of soft metal, this can result in the smearing ofmetal across the substrate. This smeared metal can adversely impactdevice performance, such as by creating electrical shorts. Copper, forexample, is very mobile, and copper that is smeared across the substratecan diffuse to the transistor level. In addition, backgrinding and otherthinning processes also have a certain amount of variation. This furthercontributes to the amount of time required to ensure that all of thethrough-substrate vias are exposed through the backside of thesubstrate.

Methods in accordance with embodiments of the present technology caninclude forming a sacrificial plug in the initial opening of athrough-substrate via. The sacrificial plug can include, for example, apolysilicon plug that is positioned between the conductive material andthe bottom of the initial opening. This sacrificial plug can have aheight that compensates for any variation in etching or othermanufacturing processes, such as wafer thinning The sacrificial plug canalso protect the through-substrate via during a backgrinding or otherthinning process. The sacrificial plug is expected to eliminate severalproblems associated with metal smearing at the backside of thesubstrate. This in turn can improve device performance as well as yield.Further, the sacrificial plug can be removed to define a contact region,such as an opening or void, for forming a structure at the backside ofthe substrate. For example, the backside can be patterned to form aconductive pillar or stand-off structure (e.g., metal structure) that iselectrically coupled with the conductive material through the void. Sucha structure can extend beyond the substrate surface at the backside ofthe device. In another example, the backside can include a damascenestructure that is electrically coupled with the conductive materialthrough the void.

FIGS. 1-14 are partially schematic cross-sectional views illustrating aportion of a semiconductor device 100 in a method for makingthrough-substrate vias or other connectors in accordance with anembodiment of the present technology. FIGS. 1-8 illustrate thesemiconductor device 100 in various stages of forming a front-sideportion of through-substrate vias or other connectors. As shown in FIG.1, the semiconductor device 100 can include a substrate 102, anelectrical component 104 (shown schematically), and an electrode 106extending from the electrical component 104 through a dielectric region108. The electrical component 104 can be a transistor (e.g., a bipolaror field-effect transistor), a diode, a capacitor, or another suitablesolid-state component formed in and/or on the substrate 102. In someembodiments, the electrode 106 can be a gate electrode and thesemiconductor device 100 can further include a source electrode (notshown) and a drain electrode (not shown). Suitable materials for theelectrode 106 include tungsten, among others. In some embodiments, theelectrode 106 can include a stack of conductive materials, such as astack of metal bond pads, traces, and vias. Similarly, the dielectricregion 108 can include a stack of dielectric materials, such as siliconoxide materials or other suitable dielectric materials. In theillustrated embodiment, a mask material 107 covers the electrode 106 andthe dielectric region 108 to protect the electrode 106 and otherfeatures of the semiconductor device 100 during subsequent processing.Embodiments of the mask material 107 can include a silicon carbide hardmask or other suitable mask materials.

As shown in FIG. 2, an opening 110 can be formed through a front side109 of the semiconductor device 100. The opening 110 extends through themask material 107 and the dielectric region 108 and into the substrate102. A plurality of openings 110 can be formed across the substrate 102using, for example, photolithographic and etching processes. As shown,the photolithographic and etching processes define a sidewall extendingto a depth within, but not completely through, the substrate 102. Theseprocesses also define a bottom surface 112 in the opening 110 of thesubstrate 102 such that the opening 110 is “blind” (e.g., not open atthe backside of the substrate 102). In some embodiments, the opening 110can be formed by more than one process, such as by a first etch processand a second etch process designed for etching through different typesof dielectric, semiconductor, or other materials. Although, forsimplicity of illustration, only one opening 110 is shown in thefigures, the semiconductor device 100 can include a plurality ofopenings.

FIG. 3 shows the semiconductor device 100 after a dielectric liner 114has been formed in the opening 110 and on the mask material 107. Thedielectric liner 114 can be from about 0.05 micron to about 1.5 micronor from about 0.1 micron to about 0.4 micron to electrically isolate aconductive structure (not shown in FIG. 2) to be formed in the opening110 from nearby structures. Suitable materials for the dielectric liner114 include silicon dioxide, among others. As shown, the dielectricliner 114 can be deposited or grown. The dielectric liner 114 can alsobe etched using a spacer etch such that the dielectric liner 114 coversthe sidewalls and the bottom surface 112 in the opening 110 but does notcover the mask material 107 outside the opening 110 or is thinneroutside the opening 110 relative to inside the opening 110 (not shown inFIG. 3).

FIG. 4 shows the semiconductor device 100 after a sacrificial material115 is deposited in the opening 110 and on the mask material 107 outsidethe opening 110. In one embodiment, the sacrificial material 115 can bepolysilicon. For example, a low-pressure chemical-vapor deposition(LPCVD) process can form polysilicon in the opening 110 and on the maskmaterial 107 outside the opening 110. In other embodiments, thesacrificial material 115 can include other suitable materials, such assilicon nitride or silicon oxide.

FIG. 5 shows the semiconductor device 100 including a sacrificial plug116 on the bottom surface 112 that partially fills the opening 110. Theexcess sacrificial material outside the opening 110 can be removed in anetching process. Excess sacrificial material can also be removed fromthe opening 110. As discussed above, the sacrificial plug 116 can beconfigured to protect or mask the conductive structure formed in theopening 110 during a thinning process, such as a backgrinding process orother suitable thinning process. A height t₁ of the sacrificial plug 116can be selected based on the amount of depth variation that occursacross a wafer or die when forming openings in the wafer or die, e.g.,variation that occurs during an etch process. In addition oralternatively, the height t₁ can be selected based on the amount ofsurface height variation that occurs in a thinning process. As shown, athinning process or another etching process has removed the dielectricliner from the mask material 107.

FIG. 6 shows the semiconductor device 100 after filling, or at leastpartially filling, the opening 110 with a conductive material 120. Inone embodiment, a first barrier/seed material 118 can be formed on thedielectric liner 114 to seed formation of the conductive material 120and reduce diffusion of the conductive material 120 through thesubstrate 102. In some embodiments, the first barrier/seed material 118can have a barrier material that does not seed formation of theconductive structure, e.g., if the conductive structure is to be formedusing chemical vapor deposition rather than plating. The barriermaterial, for example, can include tantalum, tantalum nitride, oranother suitable material. The first barrier/seed material 118 can alsoinclude a seed material defined by a conductive material, e.g., copperor copper alloy. In some embodiments, the first barrier/seed material118 can have only a single material that limits diffusion and seedsformation of a bulk conductive material. In other embodiments, the firstbarrier/seed material 118 can be omitted. As shown, a first conductivematerial 120 is deposited on the first barrier/seed material 118. Thefirst conductive material 120 can be a metal, e.g., copper, copperalloy, or other suitable material.

FIG. 7 shows the semiconductor device 100 after material has beenremoved from the first backside level 122 a of the semiconductor device100. In particular, a removal process has thinned the substrate 102 fromthe first backside level 122 a to a second backside level 122 b bystopping the removal process before all of the substrate material isremoved from between the first backside level 122 a and the sacrificialplug 116. The substrate 102 can be thinned by backgrinding, etching,chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) and/or other suitable removalmethods. In some embodiments, a thinning process may use the sacrificialplug 116 to detect when the thinning process should be stopped, such asan endpoint detection. In such embodiments, some of the sacrificialplugs on a wafer or die may be exposed through the substrate whileothers may not. In other embodiments, the thinning process may be atimed process designed so that few or none of the sacrificial plugsacross a wafer or die are exposed through the substrate 102.

FIG. 8 shows the semiconductor device 100 after further material hasbeen removed from the second backside level 122 b of the substrate 102to a third backside level 122 c such that the sacrificial plug 116projects beyond the third backside level 122 c. As shown, a portion ofthe dielectric liner 114 on the sacrificial plug 116 is exposed. Inother embodiments, the dielectric liner 114 may be removed, or at leastpartially removed. In general, one or more wet and/or dry chemicaletching processes can be used to further remove the material of thesubstrate 102 and arrive at the third backside level 122 c. For example,such etching processes may be selective to the substrate 102 over thematerial of the dielectric liner 114. In some embodiments, a CMP processcan remove material from the substrate 102 and/or the dielectric liner114. In other embodiments, an etch or thinning process occurs in asingle process. For example, a single process can combine the processfor thinning the substrate 102 to the second backside level 122 b (FIG.5) with the process for further removing material to the third backsidelevel 122 c.

FIGS. 9-14 illustrate the semiconductor device 100 in various stages offorming a backside portion of through-substrate vias or other connectorsthat form backside electrical contact. In this example, a pillar orstand-off structure is formed at the third backside level 122 c of thesemiconductor device 100. FIG. 9 shows the semiconductor device 100after a passivation material 124is deposited on the sacrificial plug116, the dielectric liner 114, and the third backside level 122 c of thesubstrate 102 (identified individually in FIG. 9 as first and secondpassivation materials 124 a and 124 b). The passivation material 124 canbe deposited in a low-temperature passivation process, such as an LPCVDprocess. In one embodiment, the first passivation material 124 a is asilicon oxide film and the second passivation material 124 b is asilicon nitride film. In other embodiments, other suitable materials mayform a passivation material, including polysilicon. Also, in someembodiments, the passivation material 124 can include a single film ofmaterial. As illustrated, the passivation material 124 conforms to asurface of the substrate 102 and a surface defined by the sacrificialplug 116. The portion of the passivation material 124 covering thesacrificial plug 116 forms a topographical feature or projection 125that can be planarized.

FIG. 10 shows the semiconductor device 100 after the passivationmaterial 124, including the topographical feature 125 (FIG. 9), has beenplanarized by a CMP, backgrinding, fly-cut, or other suitable process.The planarization exposes the sacrificial plug 116 through the substrate102 and the passivation material 124. In this embodiment, a portion ofthe dielectric liner 114 is also removed from the sacrificial plug 116.In other, non-illustrated embodiments, the dielectric liner 114, or atleast a portion of the dielectric liner 114, can remain on thesacrificial plug 116 after planarization.

FIG. 11 shows the semiconductor device 100 after the sacrificial plug116 (FIG. 10) has been removed from the semiconductor device 100.Removal of the sacrificial plug provides a void or opening 126 thatexposes the first conductive material 120 and the first barrier/seedmaterial 118 through the substrate 102. As will be described below, thevoid 126 provides a contact region for an electrical coupling with thefirst conductive material 120. One or more wet and/or dry chemicaletches can remove material to form the void 126. In one embodiment, anetch is selective to the material of the sacrificial plug 116 over thepassivation material 124 and the dielectric liner 114. In anotherembodiment, a photolithographic mask or the like can cover thepassivation material 124 during an etch (not shown). In general, asuitable etch process can remove the sacrificial plug 116 withoutsubstantially degrading or oxidizing the first conductive material 120in the void 126. In some embodiments, an etch or cleaning process can beapplied in the void 126 to a surface of the first conductive material120 to remove any native oxide or other material after the sacrificialplug is removed. For example, such a process could remove the portion ofthe first barrier/seed material 118 located in the void 126.

FIG. 12 shows the semiconductor device 100 after second barrier/seedmaterial 128 has been deposited on the passivation material 124 and thefirst barrier/seed material 118 in the void 126. In some embodiments,the second barrier/seed material 128 includes a material similar to thefirst barrier/seed material 118. In other embodiments, the secondbarrier/seed material 128 includes a different material and/or isdeposited by a different process than the first barrier/seed material118. Also, in some embodiments, the second barrier/seed material 128 maybe omitted from the semiconductor device 100.

FIG. 13 shows the semiconductor device 100 after forming a photoresistmask 132 on the passivation material 124. The photoresist mask 132defines a pattern having an opening 134 aligned with the void 126, andthe opening 134 includes portions 136a and 136b outside the void 126.The opening 134 defines a portion of the shape of a conductive structure(not shown) that is formed in the opening 134 and the void 126.

FIG. 14 shows the semiconductor device 100 after removing the maskmaterial 107 (FIG. 13), such as by an etch or other suitable process,and forming a conductive structure 138, e.g., a pillar or stand-offstructure. The conductive structure 138 includes a second conductivematerial 140, which can include metal, e.g., copper, copper alloy, orother suitable material that can be the same or different material thanthe first conductive material 120. An electroplating process can formthe conductive structure 138 by initially depositing the secondconductive material 140 on the photoresist mask 132 (FIG. 13) and on thesecond barrier/seed material 128 exposed through the opening 134 (FIG.13) of the photoresist mask 132. A lift off process can next remove thephotoresist mask 132 and the second conductive material 140 deposited onthe mask. The conductive structure 138 includes the remaining secondconductive material 140 that is not lifted off. An etch or other processcan remove excess second barrier/seed material 128 outside of theconductive structure 138. In other embodiments, other deposition and/orpatterning techniques can form the conductive structure 138. Forexample, in some embodiments the conductive material may be depositedbefore the photoresist mask 132. An etch, in this example, could be usedin lieu of the lift-off process.

According to embodiments of the present technology, a through-substratevia 142 can include the first conductive material 120 and the secondconductive material 140. As shown, the first seed/barrier material 118and the second seed/barrier material 128 provide an electrical couplingbetween the first and second conductive materials 120 and 140 at aninterior portion of the substrate 102. In other embodiments, anddepending on the fabrication process, one or both of the first andsecond seed/barrier materials 118 and 128 may be omitted. For example, aseed/barrier material may be omitted if one (or both) of the first andsecond conductive materials 120 and 140 is deposited by a non-platingprocess.

FIGS. 15-19 are partially schematic cross-sectional views illustrating aportion of a semiconductor device 200 in another method for makingthrough-substrate vias or other connectors in accordance with anotherembodiment of the present technology. FIGS. 15-19 illustrate thesemiconductor device 200 in various states of forming a backside portionof through-substrate vias or other connectors that form backsideelectrical contact. In this example, a damascene structure is formed atthe backside of the semiconductor device.

Referring to FIG. 15, the semiconductor device 200 at this stage of theprocess is similar to the semiconductor device 100 in FIG. 9, but thesemiconductor device 200 has a thicker passivation material 224 that canbe planarized by a CMP process or other suitable process to form aplanar surface on the passivation material 224 without exposing thedielectric liner 114. In some embodiments, the planarization process canbe omitted. For example, the sacrificial plug 116 may produce negligiblesurface topography or the topography may not substantially interferewith subsequent photolithography or other subsequent processing.

FIG. 16 shows the semiconductor device 200 after forming a photoresistmask 242 on the passivation material 224. The photoresist mask 242 haspatterning that defines an opening 244 that is aligned with thesacrificial plug 116. FIG. 17 shows the semiconductor device 200 afterthe pattern of the opening 244 has been transferred to the passivationmaterial 224 and a void 226 has been formed by removing the sacrificialplug 116 (FIG. 15). For example, one or more wet and/or dry chemicaletches can remove material to transfer the pattern of the opening 244 tothe passivation material 224 and to form the void 226. In oneembodiment, a single etch process can remove material to form thepattern of the opening 244 and the void 226. In another embodiment, amulti-step etch process can be employed.

FIG. 18 shows the semiconductor device 200 after the photoresist mask243 (FIG. 17) has been removed and a second barrier/seed material 228has been deposited on the passivation material 224, and the firstbarrier/seed material 118 in the void 226. In some embodiments, thesecond barrier/seed material 228 includes a material similar to thefirst barrier/seed material 118. In other embodiments, the secondbarrier/seed material 228 includes different materials and/or isdeposited by a different process.

FIG. 19 shows the semiconductor device 200 after forming a damascenestructure 238. The damascene structure 238 includes a second conductivematerial 240, which can include metal, e.g., copper, copper alloy, orother suitable material, that is the same or different material than thefirst conductive material 120. An electroplating process or othersuitable process fills the second conductive material 240 in the void226 and the pattern of the opening 244 (FIG. 18) defined in thepassivation material 224. A planarization process, such as CMP, canremove excess second conductive material 240 and excess second seedmaterial 228 on the passivation material 224. For example, theplanarization process can planarize a wafer carrying the semiconductordevice 200 until the second conductive material 240 is completelyremoved from the passivation material 224.

Similar to the through-substrate via 142 (FIG. 14), a through-substratevia 242 can include the first conductive material 120 and the secondconductive material 240. As shown, the first seed/barrier material 118and the second seed/barrier material 228 provide an electrical couplingbetween the first and second conductive materials 120 and 240 at aninterior portion of the substrate 102. In other embodiments, anddepending on the fabrication processes, one or both of the first andsecond seed/barrier materials 118 and 228 may be omitted. For example,seed/barrier material may be omitted if one of the first and secondconductive materials 120 and 240 is deposited by a non-plating process.

FIGS. 20A and 20B are partially schematic cross-sectional viewsillustrating, respectively, the semiconductor devices 100 and 200 afteradditional processing before packaging. Additional dielectric andmetallization structures 150 and 152 (shown schematically) can becoupled to the conductive structure 138 and the damascene structure 238to complete a suitable network of electrical connections within thesemiconductor devices 100 and 200. The semiconductor devices 100 and 200can be incorporated alone or with other semiconductor devices into asuitable package (not shown). For example, the conductive structure 138and the damascene structure 238 can be connected to leads (not shown) ofthe package using wire bonds (not shown), solder bumps (not shown), orother suitable structures. The semiconductor devices 100 and 200 andother associated structures can also be encapsulated for protection andto facilitate heat dissipation during operation.

Any one of the semiconductor devices having the features described abovewith reference to FIGS. 1-20B can be incorporated into any of a myriadof larger and/or more complex systems, a representative example of whichis system 162 shown schematically in FIG. 21. The system 162 can includea processor 164, a memory 166 (e.g., SRAM, DRAM, flash, and/or othermemory devices), input/output devices 168, and/or other subsystems orcomponents 170. The semiconductor devices 100 and 200 described abovewith reference to FIGS. 1-20B can be included in any of the elementsshown in FIG. 21. The resulting system 162 can be configured to performany of a wide variety of suitable computing, processing, storage,sensing, imaging, and/or other functions. Accordingly, representativeexamples of the system 162 include, without limitation, computers and/orother data processors, such as desktop computers, laptop computers,Internet appliances, hand-held devices (e.g., palm-top computers,wearable computers, cellular or mobile phones, personal digitalassistants, music players, etc.), tablets, multi-processor systems,processor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network computers,and minicomputers. Additional representative examples of the system 162include lights, cameras, vehicles, etc. With regard to these and otherexamples, the system 162 can be housed in a single unit or distributedover multiple interconnected units, e.g., through a communicationnetwork. The components of the system 162 can accordingly include localand/or remote memory storage devices and any of a wide variety ofsuitable computer-readable media.

This disclosure is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the presenttechnology to the precise forms disclosed herein. Although specificembodiments are disclosed herein for illustrative purposes, variousequivalent modifications are possible without deviating from the presenttechnology, as those of ordinary skill in the relevant art willrecognize. In some cases, well-known structures and functions have notbeen shown or described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring thedescription of the embodiments of the present technology. Although stepsof methods may be presented herein in a particular order, alternativeembodiments may perform the steps in a different order. Similarly,certain aspects of the present technology disclosed in the context ofparticular embodiments can be combined or eliminated in otherembodiments. Furthermore, while advantages associated with certainembodiments of the present technology may have been disclosed in thecontext of those embodiments, other embodiments can also exhibit suchadvantages, and not all embodiments need necessarily exhibit suchadvantages or other advantages disclosed herein to fall within the scopeof the technology. Accordingly, the disclosure and associated technologycan encompass other embodiments not expressly shown or described herein.

Throughout this disclosure, the singular terms “a,” “an,” and “the”include plural referents unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.Similarly, unless the word “or” is expressly limited to mean only asingle item exclusive from the other items in reference to a list of twoor more items, then the use of “or” in such a list is to be interpretedas including (a) any single item in the list, (b) all of the items inthe list, or (c) any combination of the items in the list. Additionally,the term “comprising” is used throughout to mean including at least therecited feature(s) such that any greater number of the same featureand/or additional types of other features are not precluded. Directionalterms, such as “upper,” “lower,” “front,” “back,” “vertical,” and“horizontal,” may be used herein to express and clarify the relationshipbetween various elements. It should be understood that such terms do notdenote absolute orientation. Reference herein to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” or similar formulations means that a particular feature,structure, operation, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the presenttechnology. Thus, the appearances of such phrases or formulations hereinare not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore,various particular features, structures, operations, or characteristicsmay be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

We claim:
 1. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device,comprising: forming one or more openings in a front side of thesemiconductor device that extend through a portion of a substrate of thesemiconductor device and define a surface in the substrate at a bottomof the opening; forming sacrificial plugs in the openings; furtherfilling the openings with a conductive material, wherein individualsacrificial plugs are generally between the conductive material and thesurface in the substrate at the bottom of the opening; exposing thesacrificial plugs at a backside of the semiconductor device withoutexposing the conductive material at the backside; and forming contactregions aligned in the openings by removing the sacrificial plugs. 2.The method of claim 1, further comprising thinning the substrate at thebackside of the semiconductor device, wherein exposing the sacrificialplugs comprises removing material from the substrate after thinning thesubstrate, and wherein forming contact regions further comprises:defining voids by removing the sacrificial plugs; and filling the voidswith another conductive material.
 3. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: forming a first barrier/seed material between thesacrificial plug and the surface in the substrate at the bottom of theopening; and forming a passivation material on the sacrificial plugs atthe backside of the semiconductor device, wherein exposing thesacrificial plugs further comprises removing material from thepassivation material, and wherein forming contact regions furthercomprises filling the voids with a second barrier/seed material that isbetween the other conductive material and the first barrier/seedmaterial.
 4. A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device,comprising: forming one or more openings in a front side of thesemiconductor device that extend through a portion of a substrate of thesemiconductor device and define a surface in the substrate at a bottomof the opening; forming sacrificial plugs in the openings, whereinforming the sacrificial plugs comprises filling the openings withpolysilicon; further filling the openings with a conductive material,wherein individual sacrificial plugs are generally between theconductive material and the surface in the substrate at the bottom ofthe opening; exposing the sacrificial plugs at a backside of thesemiconductor device; and forming contact regions aligned in theopenings by removing the sacrificial plugs.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising forming conductive structures electrically coupled tothe conductive material at the contact regions.
 6. The method of claim5, wherein forming the conductive structures comprises forming pillar orstand-off structures.
 7. The method of claim 5, further comprisingforming a damascene structure that includes the conductive structureselectrically isolated from one another by a passivation material.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, wherein further filling the openings with aconductive material comprises forming a barrier/seed material in theopenings and on the sacrificial plugs.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereinthe contact regions include a portion of the barrier/seed material. 10.The method of claim 8, wherein the barrier/seed material includes afirst barrier/seed material, and wherein the method further comprisesforming a second barrier/seed material in the contact regions, whereinthe second barrier/seed material is formed on a portion of the firstbarrier/seed material.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein exposing thesacrificial plugs comprises: thinning the substrate at the backside ofthe semiconductor device; and after thinning the substrate, etching thesubstrate at the backside.
 12. A method for forming a through-substratevia in a semiconductor device, comprising: forming an opening through aportion of a substrate of the semiconductor device; at least partiallyfilling the opening with a conductive material and a sacrificial plugthat separates the conductive material from a bottom surface of theopening; and removing material from a portion of the substrate with thesacrificial plug being positioned to mask the conductive material duringthe removal of the material from the portion of the substrate, whereinthe semiconductor device is formed in a wafer, and wherein thesacrificial plug has a height that compensates for variation in heightof other openings in the wafer.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein theheight further compensates for variation in a thinning process of thewafer.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein at least partially fillingthe opening with the conductive material and the sacrificial plugcomprises partially filling the opening with polysilicon and filling theconductive material on the polysilicon.
 15. The method of claim 12,wherein the conductive material includes a first conductive material,and wherein the method further comprises: removing the sacrificial plugto form a void; and forming an electrical coupling with the firstconductive material by filling the void with a second conductivematerial.
 16. A method for forming backside electrical contact with athrough-substrate via, comprising: exposing a sacrificial plug at abackside of a semiconductor device by removing material from a substrateof the semiconductor device; exposing the through-substrate via byremoving the sacrificial plug to form an opening; and electricallycoupling a conductive material with the through-substrate via by fillingthe opening with the conductive material.
 17. The method of claim 16,further comprising forming a conductive structure that includes theconductive material and has a shape at least partially defined by theopening.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the shape of the conductivestructure includes a pillar or stand-off structure.
 19. The method ofclaim 17, further comprising forming a damascene structure that furtherdefines the shape of the conductive structure.
 20. The method of claim16, further comprising: forming a mask at the backside of thesemiconductor device that includes a pattern; and forming a conductivestructure that includes the conductive material and that has a shape atleast partially defined by the pattern and the opening.
 21. The methodof claim 20, wherein forming the mask includes forming a photoresistmask, and wherein forming the conductive structure includes lifting offthe photoresist mask.
 22. The method of claim 20, further comprising:forming a passivation material at the backside of the semiconductordevice; and transferring the pattern to the passivation material. 23.The method of claim 1 wherein the surface is a first surface, andwherein the method further comprises removing material from thesubstrate to define a second surface at the backside, wherein individualplugs of the plurality of plugs project beyond the second surface. 24.The method of claim 16 wherein the sacrificial plug includespolysilicon.
 25. The method of claim 16 wherein exposing the sacrificialplug includes removing material from the substrate to define a surfaceat the backside and such that a portion of the sacrificial plug projectsbeyond the surface.
 26. The method of claim 16 wherein: the conductivematerial is a first conductive material; the through substrate viaincludes a second conductive material and a seed material on the secondconductive material; and exposing the through-substrate via includesexposing the seed material.